About the Book:
In Ford’s sixth collection of outdoor humor he continues to strike a chord with hunters and dog lovers as he makes observations about contemporary life, often through nostalgic narratives of the simpler days of his youth (way back in the 1900’s). Ford is an award winning freelance writer, and his work has appeared in The American Beagler, Better Beagling, Hounds & Hunting, Sporting Classics Daily, and Fur-Fish-Game. He lives in the hills of Pennsylvania with his wife, Renee, and a pack of hunting house beagles.

Excerpt:
When I was a kid, there were a few January rituals that characterized most of my time. One of them was Christmas trees. Our beagle club had a running pen, and the road into the enclosure’s parking lot was plowed. People would dump Christmas trees there. I now hear all sorts of debate about the value of used Christmas trees in an overall effort to maintain a quality running grounds, as the trees are dead and will shed their needles in time, yielding Christmas tree skeletons, which are not ideal cover. Our club liked them in the winter, and the task at hand became distributing the trees over the running grounds into clumps of decent cover capable of allowing a bunny to hide from air predators.

“How old are you?” the club president asked me.

“I will be 14 soon,” I answered.

“How would you like to disperse Christmas trees around the club?” He scratched his chin.

“Where are they?” I asked.

Bob Ford

“In the parking lot,” he scratched his head. “Space them out. Make piles that are as big as a picnic table. Don’t put them on the paths, but put them in places off the feed strips that will grow again in the spring. I don’t want to be mowing Christmas trees. Stack them where the cover looks sparse. I will make sure you get a little money for your efforts.”

Now early January was still hunting season, so Saturdays were out. That left Sundays to work on this project, as Pennsylvania has never permitted Sunday hunting. I had a paper route that I had to do on Sunday mornings, but I could do this tree job in the afternoon.

“Dad, what are you doing this Sunday?” I asked.

“Working,” he said.

“How about the following Sunday?”

“Working.” Dad was serious about work, and his job did not give him many Sundays off. Once in a while the work rotation aligned with a calendar that matched up with family events. The factory where he worked did not have a work schedule that was concerned with family events. They had developed a complicated scheme that involved workers changing shifts every week while also varying the days of the week wherein an employee was scheduled to be off. This then was modified by offerings of overtime and a desire to maximize productivity.

Sunbury Press has released Flesh and Blood, Doug and Shaun Brode’s first installment of his new Planet Jesus series.

About the Book:
“The PLANET JESUS Trilogy is just CRAZY – in the most WONDERFUL and CREATIVE way. Highly recommended – a must-read!” — Rod Lurie, director/writer/producer (KILLING REAGAN, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, STRAW DOGS, RESURRECTING THE CHAMP, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, etc.)

Where The Twilight Zone meets The New Testament is where ‘Flesh and Blood,’ the first volume in the PLANET JESUS trilogy, takes place. In his latest novel, Douglas Brode, now collaborating with his son Shaun L., retells the old story of The Christ with a new twist: The angel Gabriel, who descended from the stars to impregnate Mary, wife of Joseph, with a Divine Child was actually an ancient alien. His purpose was to create a high-level hybrid race so that civilization on earth could rapidly advance.

In “Book One: Flesh and Blood,” Brode and Brode tell the tale of Jesus’ childhood, from the earliest known adventures to that moment when, at age twelve, the Biblical hero appears to disappear from Israel. In “Book Two: Body and Soul,” the team will offer an explanation of the so-called Missing Years. “Book Three: Hope and Glory,” will re-evaluate the Return, the Mission, and the Crucifixion for 21st century readers.

What the Bible takes at face value as inexplicable metaphysical occurrences will be analyzed in a realistic manner, if according to the belief (as expressed in such influential books as CHARIOTS OF THE GODS) that ancient deities, as crudely recorded on the walls of caves and later presented as sophisticated artworks) were not the product of early humankind’s imagination but their attempts to document our First Encounters with extra-terrestrial beings.

PLANET JESUS also develops the ever-expanding theory that The Savior may well have been a woman: The Daughter, rather than the Son, of Man. Think of this as “Close Encounters of the Christ Kind.”

Doug at the well

About the Authors:
DOUGLAS BRODE is the author of more than fifty books including novels, graphic novels, non-fiction, and media history. During his lifetime he has been employed as a radio personality, a TV talk show host, a regional theatre actor, and a multi-award winning journalist. As a multi-award winning educator, Brode created the Film Classics program for Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.

SHAUN L. BRODE received his Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Central Florida’s film directors program and earned his Master’s Degree at Syracuse University. This marks his first collaboration with his father.

MECHANICSBURG, Pa.— Sunbury Press has releasedTories, Terror, and Tea, John L Moore’s first installment of his newRevolutionary Pennsylvaniahistory series.

About the Book:With the sesquicentennial of the American Revolution on the horizon, Tories, Terror, and Tea delves deeply into contemporary accounts of the times that so severely tried the souls of Rebels and Tories alike. Author John L. Moore paints a surprisingly fresh picture of the era. His true stories range from the eastern cities to the rustic frontier.

There’s a common misconception that the American Revolutionary War pretty much ended when the British surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. Not true. More than eight months later, a force of Indians and British burned the western Pennsylvania settlement of Hannastown, then the Westmoreland County seat. The town was never rebuilt.

Everybody knows that American soldiers suffered terribly during the winter the Continental Army spent at Valley Forge. Few recall that Brigadier General Anthony Wayne couldn’t get Pennsylvania political officials to provide suitable clothing for the troops of the Pennsylvania Line although he repeatedly documented that hundreds of men lacked even “a single rag of a
shirt.”

Did you know that when the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia as the British army approached, its members went first to Bethlehem and sought to make the Moravian town the U.S. capital for the duration of the war? Or that the wagon hauling the Liberty Bell away from the British broke down on the street in Bethlehem?

About the Author:
John L. Moore, a veteran newspaperman, said he employed a journalist’s eye for detail and ear for quotes in order to write about long-dead people in a lively way. He said his books are based on 18th and 19th century letters, journals, memoirs and transcripts of official proceedings such as interrogations, depositions and treaties.

The author is also a professional storyteller who specializes in dramatic episodes from Pennsylvania’s colonial history. Dressed in 18th century clothing, he does storytelling in the persona of “Susquehanna Jack,” a frontier ruffian. Moore is available weekdays, weekends and evenings for audiences and organizations of all types and sizes.

Moore has participated in several archaeological excavations of Native American sites. These include the Village of Nain, Bethlehem; the City Island project in Harrisburg, conducted by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission during the 1990s; and a Bloomsburg University dig in 1999 at a Native American site near Nescopeck. He also took part in a 1963 excavation conducted by the New Jersey State Museum along the Delaware River north of Worthington State Forest.

Moore’s 45-year career in journalism included stints as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal; as a Harrisburg-based legislative correspondent for Ottaway News Service; as managing editor ofThe Sentinelat Lewistown; as editorial page editor and managing editor atThe Daily Itemin Sunbury; and as editor of theEastern Pennsylvania Business Journalin Bethlehem.

HOLLYWOOD, CA — The first two books in Keith Rommel’s Thanatology series (Sunbury Press), The Cursed Manand The Lurking Man, have been adapted into feature films and have recently begun their festival runs. Rommel along with director/producer James L. Perry wrote the screenplay for The Cursed Man, and with executive producer Maritza Brikisak for The Lurking Man. Each film took top awards for their screenplay. Now the powerful stories and acting are turning heads. To date, the two films and the novels combined have garnished 60+ awards, the start of what could be truly spectacular. The film festivals continue throughout most of the year, bringing with them many opportunities. Having won ‘Best Book of the Year’, ‘Best Feature Screenplay’, ‘Best Ensemble’, ‘Best Narrative Feature Film(s)’ and wins in many other categories, the films are a direct reflection of the full length novels and are gaining much attention.

Rommel with Frank Krueger, Maritza Brikisak and Felix Martiz is getting ready to bring the third book in the series, The Sinful Man to the big screen. It is yet another powerhouse filled with emotion, psychological terror and reflections on your everyday decisions. Reviewers have called Rommel’s writing, “Horror for the curious mind” and “Thinking man’s fiction.” This is going to be the most ambitious rendition to date.

Beyond the big screen, Sunbury Press and Rommel are getting ready to release the fourth installment in the series. The Silent Womanis scheduled for a March 7th, 2017 release and is available for pre order now.

Jim Remsen’s history of abolitionist activity in Waverly, PA, entitled “Embattled Freedom,” was #1 due to advance sales leading up to its release. Steven K Wagner’s biography “Seinsoth” about the Dodger who almost was took #2 due to bookstore sales. Robert Barsky’s novel “Hatched” returned to the rankings thanks to author appearances at topical venues. The Perry County Council of the Arts’ writers workshop anthology “Strange Magic” was #4 due to strong sales up until the release party at the Landis House in Newport, PA. Mike Campbell’s “Amelia Earhart: The Truth at Last” nabbed #5 thanks to strong ebook sales of the 2nd edition.

SCRANTON, Pa.— Sunbury Press has releasedEmbattled Freedom: Chronicle of a Fugitive-Slave Haven in the Wary North, Jim Remsen’s history of the town of Waverly’s role in the Underground Railroad and other abolitionist activity.

About the Book:Rural Northeastern Pennsylvania was a bucolic farming region in the 1800s—but political tensions churned below the surface. When a group of fugitive slaves dared to settle in the Underground Railroad village of Waverly, near Scranton, before the Civil War, they encountered a mix of support from abolitionists and animosity from white supremacists. Once the war came, 13 of Waverly’s black fathers and sons returned south, into the bowels of slavery, to fight for the Union. Their valor under fire helped to change many minds about blacks.Embattled Freedomlifts these 13 remarkable lives out of the shadows, while also shedding light on the racial politics and social codes they and their people endured in the divided North. The men had found a safe haven in Waverly, but like other people of color in the 1800s and early 1900s, their freedom was uneasy, their battle for respect never-ending.

Readers are invited to visit embattledfreedom.org, a related, free educational website. There you will find:
Learning segments based on themes in the book
Author’s blog
Classroom materials
Repository of illustrations
Recommended reading

About the Author:
Jim Remsen is a journalist and author of two prior books,The Intermarriage Handbook(HarperCollins, 1988) andVisions of Teaoga(Sunbury, 2014). Since retiring as Religion Editor at thePhiladelphia Inquirer, Jim has pursued his keen interest in history, with a focus on underappreciated aspects of our nation’s local histories. Being a native of Waverly, Pa., he is pleased to be bringing his old hometown’s remarkable black and abolitionist period to light.

“A well-researched and documented read that revisits the challenges of 13 freedom-seekers who served during the Civil War. A research gem.”
-Sherman Wooden, President, Center for Anti-Slavery Studies, Montrose, Pa.